Monday, April 21, 2014

For 1953, each voter should rank their top 10 players from both leagues combined.

Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EST on 7 May 2014.

Anyone can vote, even if you do not normally participate in Hall of Merit discussions. If have never participated in an MMP election, just post a preliminary ballot in the discussion thread by 6 May 2014.

Reader Comments and Retorts

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

1. Al Rosen, 3B, Cleveland Indians- leads AL in OPS+ by 30 points and in Runs Created by 27; also contributed +9 fielding runs at third base2. Eddie Mathews, 3B, Boston Braves- Eddie's big breakout season; led the NL in OPS+ with 171; added 145 RC and +3 fielding runs3. Duke Snider, CF, Brooklyn Dodgers- third in OPS+, second in RC and +8 runs in centerfield4. Roy Campanella, C, Brooklyn Dodgers- fourth in both OPS+ and RC with +7 fielding from behind the plate; Mathews, Snider and Campy are separated by the thinnest of margins5. Robin Roberts, P, Philadelphia Phillies- leads the majors by 75 innings pitched and the NL by over 80; oh and his 153 ERA+ is good for second best in MLB6. Stan Musial, LF, St. Louis Cardinals- second in OPS+ and first in RC but he falls to sixth because of his limited defensive contributions7. Warren Spahn, P, Boston Braves- an outstanding 188 ERA+ in 265 innings8. Yogi Berra, C, New York Yankees- the second best position player in the AL behind Rosen; hit for a 141 OPS+ as a full-time catcher9. Red Schoendienst, 2B, St. Louis Cardinals- sneaks into the top ten in OPS+ and runs created while contributing +6 fielding runs from second10. Billy Pierce, P, Chicago White Sox- the best pitcher in the AL; 1st in innings and 2nd in ERA+

11. Ellis Kinder, RP, Boston Red Sox- Old Folks' biggest year (a 225 ERA+ in more than 100 relief innings) almost gets him onto the ballot
12. Mickey Vernon, 1B, Washington Senators- 2nd in the AL in both OPS+ and RC
13. Ray Boone, 3B/SS, Indians/Tigers
14. Virgil Trucks, P, Browns/White Sox- it's not often you see two guys who were traded mid-season crack the top 15 of an MMP ballot; 1953 was a strange year
15. Jackie Robinson, LF/3B, Brooklyn Dodgers- still a force in the field (+12 fielding runs) and on the basepaths (+6) but the move to left field hurts his value a little
16. Harvey Haddix, P, Chicago Cubs
17. Ted Kluzewski, 1B, Cincinnati Reds
18. Mel Parnell, P, Boston Red Sox
19. Solly Hemus, SS, St. Louis Cardinals
20. Carl Furillo, RF, Brooklyn Dodgers

Actually, I will revise one thing from my prelim - if I had to pick a best pitcher for AL I would probably go with Billy Pierce rather than McDermott. Again, like with Roberts in the NL, all those extra innings really count for something.

I use a combination of WAR systems to get an average WAR for each player. I use that number to get a Dan R-style salary estimation. I divide that salary by $1 million and add 3 times the average WAR to that dividend. I use a 20% bonus for catchers and do not credit postseason except as a tiebreaker.

1-Al Rosen-Greatest season ever by a 3b according to WAR/Win Shares
2-Roy Campanella-At the time, by WAR/WS the best season ever by a C...by a fair bit (Campy is at 7.1, next closest is Cochrane at 6.3).312/.395/.611/1.006, 41 bombs. Just a monster year from a C
3-Robin Roberts-Spahn has the prettier ERA+ but RR has 80 more IP and tons of K's.
4-Duke Snider-.336/.419/.627/1.046, 165 OPS+, 45 HR. Man, toss in PeeWee and Jack Robby and those Dodgers were ridiculously strong up the middle
5-Eddie Mathews-At 21 throws up the best season in a long career. 171 OPS+, 47 HR, 99 BB, .302/.406/.627/1.033.. The only prior 3b with a better season were named Baker and Ott.
6-Stan Musial-Another thunderous season, another year Stan's left in line at the altar. 53 2b, 30 HR,.337/.437/.609 /1.046. Defensive stats disagree with reputation and again hurt The Man's chances.
7-Warren Spahn-Sweet season. 2.10 ERA, 188 ERA+, 1.058 WHIP, 2.97 FiP
8-Yogi Berra-The AL lives. 27 HR, 141 OPS+, great Post season.
9-Harvey Haddix-Best Season of His life (BSoHL)
10-Mickey Vernon-43/11/15 2b/3b/hr (Real power in DC).337/.403/.518/.921

Best of the rest, in order:
Jackie Robinson-A last hurrah for Jack.I suspect we won't see his name in this project again. What a terrific player he was.
Kinder-Top AL pitcher
Boone-BSoHL. 22 HR,.312/.395/.556/.951, 156 OPS+, hurt by poor fielding
VB Mizell-14th in points, 1st in nomenclature
Schoendienst-An annoying pesky IF in an era of annoying pesky IF with an annoyingly terrific year..342/.405/.502/.907, 135 OPS+, good defense, decent baserunner, prime position.

1953 Ballot Version 2: In the original version I made a mistake in my formula which essentially ignored the park factor for hitters. Version 2 corrects for this oversight. There is only one change in the order in the top 10, but is a rather important one. My apologies for any inconvience this may have caused.